Shoe sole having insole and midsole forming mated air chambers

ABSTRACT

A shoe sole includes a bottom, an insole, and a midsole. The insole forms a plurality of air passages extending therethrough, and has a bottom face on which a plurality of first raised sections is formed to delimit a plurality of first air chambers. The midsole is positioned between the insole and the bottom and has a top face opposing the bottom face of the insole and forming a plurality of second raised sections that delimits a plurality of second air chambers, the second raised sections being configured to correspond in position to the first raised sections so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, the first raised sections are respectively positioned on the second raised sections and the first air chambers respectively correspond to the second air chambers to form combine air chambers that each have an increased volume.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shoe sole having an insole and amidsole both forming air chambers mating each other, and in particularlyto a shoe sole having an insole that has a bottom face forming aplurality of raised sections delimiting a plurality of air chambers anda midsole having a top face forming a plurality raised sectionscorresponding to the raised sections of the insole and delimiting aplurality of air chambers corresponding to the air chambers of themidsole so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, the raisedsections of the insole are respectively positioned on the raisedsections of the midsole and the insole air chambers are respectivelycombined with the midsole air chambers to form combined air chambersthat each have an increased volume.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

Modern people, especially urban residents, often wear shoes for a verylong time of a day, even as long as eight or nine hours a day. Wearingshoes for such a long time often caused discomfort of the wearer'ssoles, especially when air inside the shoes is not allowed to freelyexchange with surrounding atmosphere for ventilation and heatdissipation. Thus, most shoe manufacturers are devoted themselves todevelopment of shoes that allow air exchange for heat dissipation andventilation purposes. For example, air chambers are formed in shoe soleby arranging ribs on a bottom face of an insole. When the insole isstacked on an outsole, the interior spaces delimited by the ribs formthe air chambers. When the wearer walks, his or her soles repeatedly andcyclically depress/release the insole to compress and expand the airchambers and thus driving air into the shoe for ventilation and cooling.

However, since the insole that is positioned on the bottom or outsolehas a very limited distance from the bottom, the air chambers delimitedby the raised ribs are of very limited volume. This imposes a severeconstrain to the amount of air pumped into the shoe whereby heatdissipation or cooling cannot be efficiently and sufficiently effected.

Thus, it is desired to provide a shoe sole that has forms air chambersin both an insole and a midsole so that the insufficiency of cooling canbe overcome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a shoe solecomprising a bottom, an insole, and a midsole, wherein the insole formsa plurality of air passages extending therethrough, and has a bottomface on which a plurality of first raised sections is formed to delimita plurality of first air chambers and wherein the midsole is positionedbetween the insole and the bottom and has a top face opposing the bottomface of the insole and forming a plurality of second raised sectionsthat delimits a plurality of second air chambers, the second raisedsections being configured to correspond in position to the first raisedsections so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, the firstraised sections are respectively positioned on the second raisedsections and the first air chambers respectively correspond to thesecond air chambers to form combined air chambers that each have anincreased volume.

The bottom of the shoe sole defines a plurality of holes incommunication with the second air chambers of the midsole so s to allowair exchange between inside and outside the shoe to be carried outthrough the holes.

The shoe sole may further comprises an air-permeable andhumidity-blocking film interposed between the insole and the midsole toprevent water from flowing upward from the second air chambers towardthe insole.

The insole has a top face forming a plurality of compressible sectionscorresponding the first air chambers in position so that when the wearerof the shoe walk, the compressible sections are cyclically depressed topump air inside the air chambers into the shoe forming air streamstoward the wearer's sole and/or pump air/water trapped in the airchambers out of the shoe and to draw surrounding air into the sole whenthe compressible sections are released from depression for replenishingfresh air into the shoe.

Further, the midsole has an outer circumference through which aplurality of channels is defined and in communication withoutward-leading holes defined in the bottom for expelling trapped waterand heat out of the sole.

The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction tothe present invention. To fully appreciated these and other objects ofthe present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detaileddescription of the invention and the claims should be read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specificationand drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similarparts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will becomemanifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to thedetailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which apreferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of thepresent invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art byreading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof,with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a cosmetic jar constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the circled portion designated by 2 inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an assembled view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom side perspective view of an insole of the shoe solein accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a top plane view of a midsole of the shoe sole of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and arenot intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of theinvention in any way. Rather, the following description provides aconvenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of theinvention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made inthe function and arrangement of the elements described without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to FIGS. 1-6, a shoe sole constructed in accordance with thepresent invention comprises a bottom 10, an insole 20, and a midsole 30.The insole 20 forms a plurality of through holes 21 serving as ventholes or air passages. A plurality of raised sections 22 is formed on abottom face of the insole 20 to delimit a plurality of insole airchambers 23 on the bottom face of the insole 20. The midsole 30 ispositioned between the insole 20 and the bottom 10. The midsole 30 has atop face opposing the bottom face of the insole 20 and a plurality ofraised sections 31 is formed on the top face of the midsole 30 todelimit a plurality of midsole air chambers 32. The raised sections 31of the midsole 30 are configured to substantially correspond in positionand shape/size to the raised sections 22 of the insole 20 whereby whenthe insole 20 is stacked on the midsole 30, the insole raised sections22 are positioned, in a one-to-one fashion, on the midsole raisedsections 31 respectively. Consequently, the insole air chambers 23 ofthe insole 20 correspond, also in a one-to-one fashion, in position tothe midsole air chambers 32 whereby each insole air chamber 23 and thecorresponding midsole air chamber 32 together form a continuous airchamber having an enlarged volume.

The bottom 10 has a circumferential wall (not labeled) in which aplurality of sideways-extending and circumferentially-distributedthrough holes 11 is defined. The holes 11 are in fluid communicationwith the midsole air chambers 32 whereby air exchange between inside andoutside of the sole can be performed by air flowing through the holes11.

Preferably, and as illustrated in the drawings, an air-permeable andhumidity-blocking film 40 is interposed between the insole 20 and themidsole 30, serving as a barrier that prevents water, which enters themidsole air chambers 32 through the holes 11, from flowing upward intothe insole air chambers 23 and further reaching and wetting a wearer'ssole through the air passages 21 of the insole 20.

The insole 20 has a top face, opposite to the raised sections 22,forming a plurality of compressible sections 24, which are preferablycorresponding in position and number to the insole air chambers 23. Thecompressible sections 24 are depressible downward to compress the airvolume contained in the corresponding insole air chambers 23 and midsoleair chambers 32, which pumps air contained in the air chambers 23, 32out of the sole through the air passages 21 to form air streams flowingtoward the wearer's sole, and when the compressible sections 24, whichare made resilient, are released from the depression, the compressiblesections 24 resiliently restore the original un-depressed condition, andthe restoration of the compressible sections 24 expands the volume ofthe air chambers 23, 32 to draw outside air into the air chambers 23, 32through the holes 11.

Thus, when the wearer is walking, the compressible sections 24 arerepeatedly compressed and released with the stepping-down and up-liftingmovements of the wearer's sole and as a consequence thereof, air iscontinuously and cyclically forces to enter the shoe through the airpassages 21 and freshen the wearer's sole and replenished by drawingoutside air into the sole through the holes 11.

Referring particular to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, a plurality ofoutward-extending channels 33 is defined through a circumferential wallof the midsole 30 and communicating between the midsole chambers 32 andthe holes 11 of the bottom 10, preferably in a one-to-one fashion, butnot necessarily. The outward-extending channels 33 serve to drain air orwater trapped in the midsole air chambers 32 out of the sole through theholes 11.

Also formed in the midsole 30 is a circumferentially-extending channel34 that are substantially co-extensive with the outer circumference ofthe midsole 30 and are in fluid communication with the outward-extendingchannels 33, whereby all the channels 33 are put in communication witheach other through the channel 34. Thus, even if the outward-extendingchannels 33 are not in perfect alignment with the holes 11 and only onechannel 33 are aligned with the hole 11, the air and water trapped inthe midsole air chambers 32 can be expelled out of the sole.

It is apparent to those having ordinary skills that the midsole 30 andthe bottom 10 can be formed integrally as a unitary member or part ofthe shoe sole and the present invention is considered encompassing sucha modification.

It is also apparent that the present invention is applicable to allkinds of shoes, including an Oxford shoes, sports shoes, leather shoes,boots, slip-ons, sandals, boots, and slippers.

To summarize, the shoe sole of the present invention has a structurecomprising a bottom 10 on which an insole 20 and a midsole 30 arestacked, wherein the insole 2 defines a plurality of air passages 21 andhas a bottom face forming a plurality of raised sections 22 thatdelimits a plurality of insole air chambers 23 and wherein the midsole30, positioned under the insole 20, has a top face forming a pluralityraised sections 31 that delimits a plurality of midsole air chambers 32and that is arranged to correspond to the raised sections 22 of theinsole 20 so that when the insole 20 is stacked on the midsole 30, theraised sections 22 of the insole 20 are positioned, in a on-to-onefashion, on the raised sections 31 of the midsole 30 respectively andeach insole air chamber 23 of the insole 20 is jointed with thecorresponding midsole air chamber 32 of the midsole 30 to form acontinuous, combined air chamber having an increased volume forpreservation of an increased amount of air therein that enhances heatdissipation from inside the shoe.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the artthat a variety of modifications and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention which is intended tobe defined by the appended claims.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together may also find a useful application in other types ofmethods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown anddescribed and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intendedto be limited to the details above, since it will be understood thatvarious omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the formsand details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be madeby those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spiritof the present invention.

1. A shoe sole comprising a bottom, an insole, and a midsole, wherein:the insole forms a plurality of air passages extending therethrough, andhas a bottom face on which a plurality of first raised sections isformed to delimit a plurality of first air chambers; and the midsole ispositioned between the insole and the bottom and has a top face opposingthe bottom face of the insole and forming a plurality of second raisedsections that delimits a plurality of second air chambers, the secondraised sections being configured to correspond in position to the firstraised sections so that when the midsole is stacked on the insole, thefirst raised sections are respectively positioned on the second raisedsections and the first air chambers respectively correspond to thesecond air chambers to form combined air chambers that each have anincreased volume.
 2. The shoe sole as claimed in claim 1 furthercomprising an air-permeable and humidity-blocking film interposedbetween the insole and the midsole.
 3. The shoe sole as claimed in claim1, wherein the midsole has an outer circumference through which firstchannels are formed, the first channels being arranged in alignment withthrough holes defined in the bottom respectively.
 4. The shoe sole asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the midsole is integrally formed with thebottom.
 5. The shoe sole as claimed in claim 1, wherein the midsole hasan outer circumference through which first channels are formed, a secondchannel along the outer circumference and in communication with thefirst channels.